What We’re Reading: Student Loans, Branch Banking and Mobile Payments

Borrowers are paying down their debts across a number of credit categories — with the big exception being student loans, according to new data published by Equifax. Auto loan delinquency rates for payments at least 60 days overdue fell 35% in July from a year earlier, and bank card delinquencies dropped 21% over the same period, the credit bureau reported on Thursday as part of its monthly National Consumer Credit Trends report. First mortgage delinquency rates for 30 days or more fell 15%, and home equity revolving 30-day plus delinquencies fell 7%, the company added.

Consumers rank banking services as providing the greatest value for their investment compares with other services that require a bill or fee, according to a poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in conjunction with TD Bank. According to the survey, which polled 1,231 U.S. consumers in August, 57 percent cited day-to-day banking as providing the greatest value for their investment. Nineteen percent listed telephone or mobile phone services as the best value compared to investment, whereas 19 percent also cited cable and television services, and five percent listed financial advice. When it comes to day-to-day banking services, the poll found that, not surprisingly, convenience is king.

What does this Apple victory against Samsung mean? Apple took a big swipe at Google-the same Google which has won its battle for dominant market share by being open and free. Google is now the number one operating system for smartphones and Apple is fighting back, not by innovating with even better smartphones, but by going to court. Don’t get blinded by the names on the lawsuit. The $1 billion patent war victory against Samsung by Apple was really a shot fired at Google Android.

Thus, if you’re a bank, by 2015 your #1 channel for day-to-day retail banking will be Mobile, then Web, then the ATM, then Call Centre, and at #5, Branch.” – says Brett King, bestselling author and founder of MovenBank. He also predicts that his children might never need to see the inside of a branch when they’re older. A leading research firm declares mobile banking a more important innovation than the credit card or even the ATM! That’s a spectacular comeback for a channel, which failed to make a mark in its debut. So what is it about mobile banking, other than the obvious advantages of convenience and cost that is now enabling it to surge ahead of other channels, especially the branch?

More than 50% of Portland’s historically cash-only food carts have moved to mobile payments, according to Brett Burmeister, managing editor of FoodCartsPortland.com. He says that 18 months ago, 25% of food-cart owners in Portland used mobile payment options. That number is now more than half. “With the newer carts coming in, [owners] are younger, more tech savvy. It’s not an afterthought, it’s part of what they do,” says Burmeister on how mobile payment systems are standard operating procedure with newer carts.

QuickBooks Online, the web-based version of Intuit’s popular small-business accounting software, is getting an update that includes improved online banking features and income transaction tracking. The online banking enhancements borrow technology from Mint.com, Intuit’s web-based personal finance manager. QuickBooks online will now download transactions automatically every night, and assign them categories based on historical data or intelligence built in to the software. Users can review the categorization when they log in, and (as before) override them as needed; the software will remember the approved category and use it on future transactions.